Page 74 of Crossing Paths
Handing back her ID, he warned, “No trouble.” But that was it. No tossing or shouting at all. It was almost anticlimactic.
When Dash was allowed through with the same treatment, Norah had to admit that he’d been right—apparently, no one got banned from Dutch’s. That was both a relief—since she hadn’t looked forward to being tossed across the parking lot—and a little intimidating. Who knew what kind of troublemakers frequented a place where literallyanyonewas allowed to go?
Dash tugged her behind him, pulling her out of her musings, and she latched on to the back of his belt. Even when she had a firm hold of him, he didn’t move his hand, keeping it resting on her hip as if to reassure himself that she was still with him.
Dutch’s was packed, busier than she’d ever seen it before…although this was only the third time she’d been at the bar. She looked around, searching for a glimpse of Laken, but she was too short to see much of anything. Dash must’ve spotted someone though, since he made a sharp left and worked his way through the crowd, plowing a path for her like one of those ice-crushing boats in the arctic.
He stopped by a table, and she moved to his side.
“Norah! You came!”
Dash had indeed led her right to Laken. Part of her—a very large part of her—wished that Dash was just barging his way to the dance floor or something. Forcing a smile, she gave Laken a little wave in response to her enthusiastic greeting.
“You remember Kenslee, Carson, and Pike, of course!” Laken made a sweeping gesture toward the three sitting with her at a high-top table close to the bar.
Losing even her weak attempt at a smile, Norah just nodded stiffly at her three former classmates. They didn’t look much different from when she’d last seen them five years ago, except Carson was currently trying out a very strange facial hair arrangement. The two guys offered her chin lifts while Kenslee gave her a wave and her trademark pageant smile.
This was a bad idea.Norah couldn’t argue with the voicein her brain, but she was determined to get this over with. She needed to find out exactly what Laken wanted—although she had a pretty good idea it had something to do with the necklace her mom had stolen—and somehow convince the woman there was no way Norah could help her.
“Who’s this?” Kenslee asked, giving Dash a slow once-over that made Norah want to smack her.
It was such a strong urge that she grabbed her right hand with her left to keep her body from overruling her common sense.This is a nonviolent date, she told herself, repeating it like a mantra.This is a nice, nonviolent date.
When Dash just gave Kenslee one of his typical scowls, Norah figured it was up to her to introduce him. “Dash,” she said, but it was lost in a surge of crowd chatter. Raising her voice, she tried again. “This is Dash.” When Kenslee gave him another heavy-lidded look, she added, “My boyfriend.”
That earned her a sideways half smile from said boyfriend. She could feel her cheeks warm slightly, but she straightened her shoulders. Even though they hadn’t specifically defined their relationship, he felt extremely boyfriend-like to her. Also, he was the one who said they weren’t fake dating.
“Here!” Laken shoved a drink toward her. “It’s on me! You have some catching up to do.”
Occupied by claiming Dash as her own, Norah hadn’t even noticed Laken leaving the table, but she’d obviously made another trip to the bar. A little of the bright pink liquid sloshed over the rim of the glass, and Norah shifted back against Dash, both so she didn’t get splashed and also because she really didn’twant to take the drink. She wasn’t a big drinker in the first place, and she didn’t trust Laken enough to accept anything from her.
“No, thank you.” She held up a hand as if to physically block the drink from entering her body. “You enjoy it. I’m just going to have water.”
Although she pouted, Laken stopped shoving the drink at her and put it down on the table in front of her own seat. “I’ll get you a water then.”
“No, I—” It was too late to protest, since Laken had already darted toward the bar again.
Reluctantly, Norah turned back to the others. Even though Laken was annoying, she was chatty and could’ve served as a bit of a buffer between Norah and the remaining three. She sent a quick glance at Dash, but he was keeping an eye on the crowd around them. It looked like there was an argument building between two guys three tables away, and she could tell most of Dash’s focus was on them.
Except for Laken’s, all the available seats were taken, so Norah just stood awkwardly next to the table. Dash took up the space behind her, close enough that she could feel his body heat but not touching. None of the others said anything, so Norah searched her brain for something to talk about. It was interesting how awkwardly quiet things could seem even in a noisy crowd. She finally settled on an innocuous question she was fairly sure wouldn’t be considered strange. “Um…how long are you going to be in Langston?”
“Just tonight,” Kenslee answered, although her gaze keptflicking to Dash as she stirred the remains of her cocktail. “I live in Colorado Springs now.”
“Oh.”What is there to say about the Springs?Scrambling for a response, Norah just said, “That’s…nice.”
“What’ve you been up to?” Pike asked. “Heard you’re a bounty hunter now. You must have some interesting stories.”
There was an odd note to his voice, but Norah wasn’t sure if it was amusement or derision or possibly horniness, so she ignored it and just nodded. At least some of Dash’s attention must’ve been on their conversation, since he stiffened. When Norah glanced up at him, she saw he was glowering at Pike. Either the man didn’t notice or he ignored it, because Pike’s gaze stayed fixed on her. The other two at the table were watching her closely as well. It was more than a bit unnerving, and she found herself leaning back against Dash, finding courage in the press of her back against his front. He ran his hand over her upper arm, and that was very nice too.
Despite the comfort of Dash’s touch, Pike’s question rankled.Not this again.Laken had been all about the “interesting stories” too, making Norah think that it was code for “tell us the one about your mom stealing a very expensive necklace, and make sure to include the part about where she hid it.”
“Not really.” Norah gave her standard answer, knowing that she was a beat or two too late. “I’m just a researcher. No fieldwork for me.”
Pike and Carson exchanged a look while Kenslee studied Norah like she was a particularly interesting bug she was about to squash with her very expensive heel.
“I heard about your mom,” Carson said. When his lips moved, so did the weirdly caterpillar-like hair above and below his mouth. It was both disconcerting and distracting, making it hard to concentrate on what he was saying. “The whole stealing that necklace and taking off thing. That must suck.”
Kenslee slapped his arm. “Rude! I’m sure she doesn’t want to talk about her loser mom.”
